Peace & Global Witness
Worship for World Communion Sunday
Below are worship resources prepared by our global partners for World Communion Sunday (October 3, 2021). You can download these resources as a PDF in English and Spanish. Videos are hyperlinked below and can also be found here.
Prayers for Peace (videos in Arabic / Armenian / Choctaw / Mizo / Vietnamese)
Call to worship (videos in English / Spanish): Rev. Gloria Ulloa, Presbyterian Church of Colombia
Opening song: Uyai mose (Come All You People), Glory to God #388, Zimbabwean welcome song, UYAI MOSE
Opening prayer (videos in English / Spanish): Rev. Lydia Neshangwe, Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa, Zimbabwe, Shona and English, adaptation of “A Non-Traditional Blessing” by Sister Ruth Fox
Hymn (video): This is My Song, Glory to God #340, FINLANDIA
Call to confession, confession, and assurance of pardon (videos in English / Spanish): Armenian, Shant Agoushian, Near East School of Theology student, Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East; Arabic, Jameel Maher Khadir, Near East School of Theology student, Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Holy Land
Faced with God’s goodness we recognize our failings.
In the knowledge of God’s mercy,
we dare tell the truth about ourselves and our world.
In the confidence of God’s children let us confess our sins.
Confession
Gracious Lord, creator of this universe,
in your generosity you have given us
a world of abundance and diversity,
yet we live guided by greed and selfishness.
We confess that we have defaced your creation
and poisoned our environment
through our consumerist behavior and for personal gain.
In Christ, you made us brothers and sisters
and intended for us to be united,
and yet we have built walls to separate us
from those who are different from us.
You gave us wisdom and creativity
and we have used those to trick each other
and to develop weapons of destruction and death.
You gave us laws to order our lives
and we have abused them
to take revenge and punish our enemies.
We love war rather than strive for peace.
We ignore the poor and the weak
and honored the rich and powerful.
In all this we have not lived according to your will.
Forgive us, Lord, for daring to boast in our human achievements
and for failing to recognize that you alone are worthy of praise.
In your mercy, forgive us our sins.
Assurance of pardon
“God accepted us simply because of our faith in Christ,”
through whom our sins were forgiven.
May he help us to continue to “preach peace to those who are near and far.” Amen.
(Phil. 3:9; Eph. 2:17)
Passing the peace (videos in English / Spanish)
Prayer of illumination (videos in English / Spanish): Magdaléna Trgalová, Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren
Holy Spirit, grant us openness
and give us understanding
of what each one of us needs to receive
through Holy Scripture.
When we are facing a difficult choice
between the easy and the right decision,
help us to choose the narrow path.
We also pray for all
who are about to set on an adventurous journey of faith
anywhere in the world. Amen.
Prayers of the peoples (videos in English / Spanish differ from the text below):
From every place on this planet,
we turn our face to you, O God.
Gather us, all your people,
together, to pray.
In the midst of the forces which would separate us,
bind us in your love as the Church, together.
Strengthen us through the grace of your people gathered,
no matter how we gather,
with the truth of your presence.
In a world aching to be made new,
we cry out with those who suffer the pains
of what powers and principalities extract from the world’s poorest.
We cry out with those suffering from illness and disease,
at whom the world turns a callous glance.
We cry out with those stinging from the sins of white supremacy.
We cry out with those seeking justice, equality, and peace —
peace, at all times, in all ways.
In a world stretching toward wholeness,
we celebrate with those whose lives bear the fruit of your Spirit
and seek to share in your call to partnership.
We celebrate with those whose efforts are making the world new.
We celebrate with all who gather
to earnestly seek your transforming work in the world.
Make us a world that grows into the shape of your communion table,
where all are welcomed and all are fed.
Make us a people who grow your family
by practices of mutuality, generosity and justice.
And may we be found to be witnesses, when Jesus returns,
to the truth of who we were created to be —
people who belong to each other,
people who belong to you, O God,
in your Son, Jesus. Amen.
Offertory Hymn: To My Precious Lord, Glory to God #704, 내게있는향유옥합, TO MY PRECIOUS LORD, Korean
Prayer of Dedication
Break forth in us, Light of peace, Light of the world. May your peace extend from our mouths, from our hearts and from our hands. May our gifts enliven all who work, and dance, and sing, and write, and act, and create peace with us and within us, until it exists, at all times, in all ways. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed (videos in English / Spanish)
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead and buried;
he descended into hell;
the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
Invitation to the Table (video): Readers in Quechua, Spanish, Portuguese, Guaraní and Tsotsil proclaim:
This is the table to which Jesus invites us!
Let us participate joyfully!
Song (videos in English / Spanish): “Água, terra, vinho e pão” (Water, soil, wine and bread — first stanza and chorus)
Lyrics and music: Daniel do Amaral, encuentro AIPRAL, Sao Paulo, 2016
Instruments: Horacio VivaresVocals: Pedro Alexander Barbosa Nunez
Recorded at Ciranda Músicas. From the CD “Arropándonos con esperanza” (Clothing ourselves with hope) by Red Crearte
God-planted seeds now germinate
A tree of life, an orchard bearing fruit
Such is nature, abundant life budding,
And Jesus sets the table, invites us to dine.
Water into wine, land where bread is born,
A people on the path of perfect communion.
Prayer of thanksgiving
A prayer of thanksgiving to God, remembrance of Jesus Christ (including the words of institution), and invocation of the Holy Spirit may be included here. The Lord’s Prayer may follow.
The Lord’s Prayer (videos in English / Spanish)
Breaking of the bread (videos in English / Spanish):
We give thanks for this bread,
fruit of the earth and hard work,
a gift of the grace of God.
We break it and share it,
remembering the words and actions,
gestures and glances,
silences and self-offered life
of the teacher from Nazareth.
(Bread is broken and shared)
And we give thanks for the fruit of the vine,
for the joy of communion,
for alliances that endure
in the search for justice and wholeness.
We take the cup,
knowing we are part of a community-people
renewing its covenant with life.
(The cup is filled and shared)
Communion
Song (videos in English / Spanish): “Ven a la mesa” (Come to the Table) by Eleazar Torreglosa, lyrics collectively adapted for World Communion Sunday 2020
Instruments: Horacio Vivares
Vocals: Loida Gáffaro de Valera
Recorded at Ciranda Músicas
Refrain:
Come to the table, Jesus invites you,
come to the table, come.
Bring all your worries, and your rejoicing,
Come to the table, come.
1. The broken bread feeds us,
It is the body of Jesus
To unite us in his ways
Of life and light.
2. This is the cup of joy,
a covenant of relationship
Wellbeing that Christ offers
To all creation.
3. Each time we share
The Lord’s Supper
We remember our commitment
In his love.
4. Give me your hand, my siblings,
In a sign of unity
That we might be one single body
In communion.
5. May justice and mercy
Be our path
Free from every shackle
And life in peace.
Charge and benediction (videos in English / Spanish): Rev. Philip Akway Obong, South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church
The Lord bless you and keep you,
the Lord make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you,
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all from now and forevermore. Amen.
